ViacomCBS Int’l Studios starts kids arm

ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has launched a kids division led by Nina Hahn, the VP of production and development at subsidiary Nickelodeon International.

Nina Hahn

London-based Hahn will add the role of head of VIS Kids at the studio arm of the US media giant, which was set up in 2018, to her existing remit.

She will now additionally report to Juan JC Acosta, president of VIS and ViacomCBS Networks Americas, while continuing to report to Jules Borkent, executive VP of kids and family for ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI).

VIS produces content for ViacomCBS brands and platforms including Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central, as well as for third parties such as Netflix.

As head of VIS Kids, Hahn will focus on growing VIS’s kids’ content pipeline and expanding its global footprint.

She will lead on sourcing and developing originals within the animated, live-action and preschool genres by working with the studio’s production and development teams across Latin America, the UK, Spain and Israel.

Hahn will also collaborate with her domestic and international counterparts, along with an expanded central team that will include international development and production, sales and distribution.

ViacomCBS said the launch of VIS Kids allows for the expansion of the studio’s global kids’ content pipeline, broadening its children’s content offering to include short- and long-form content that will be produced and sold to third parties, in addition to ViacomCBS brands and platforms. The studio plans to develop more than 30 new kids’ shows over the next three years.

During her tenure at Nickelodeon, Hahn has led the organisation’s first global hub for content sourcing and creation, and initiated projects in markets such China, Israel and India, where the company was not previously active.

These include Deer Squad, a coproduction with iQiyi in China; Spyders, Nickelodeon International’s first original coproduction with Ananey Studios in Israel; and The Twisted Timelines of Sammy & Raj, Nickelodeon’s first collaboration with Viacom18 in India.

Acosta said: “VIS has an existing footprint in the kids arena with successful series like Club 57 and Noobees, so we felt it was time to launch our own kids division of ViacomCBS International Studios. Nina has been a driving force behind many of Nickelodeon’s groundbreaking and award-winning series across the globe, and I am confident she will build on VIS’ momentum at the helm of VIS Kids.”

Hahn added: “I’m honoured to be heading up VIS Kids and plan to establish deep, diverse and inclusive roots in kids’ content. The launch of VIS Kids furthers our studio’s model of creating specialised divisions with central leadership, to ensure we can take full advantage of strategic opportunities that support VIS’s continued advancement.”